goodly
/ˈɡʊdli/
"goodly" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“goodly” is an uncommon English word, ranked #54,808 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #54,808
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Good; pleasing in appearance; attractive; comely; graceful; pleasant; desirable.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | goodly |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈɡʊdli/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #54,808 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “goodly” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for goodly is 6 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɡʊdli/. Corpus data places it at rank #54,808 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Zero misspellings are on record for goodly in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʰedʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *gadanąvṛd. Proto-Germanic *gōdaz Proto-Indo-European *leyg- Proto-Germanic *līkąder. Proto-Germanic *-līkaz Proto-Germanic *gōdalīkaz Proto-West Germanic *gōdalīk Old English gōdlīċ Middle Engli… The correct English form is goodly, spelled G-O-O-D-L-Y.
Definition
- 1Good; pleasing in appearance; attractive; comely; graceful; pleasant; desirable.
- 2Quite large; considerable; sufficient; adequate; more than enough.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʰedʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *gadanąvṛd. Proto-Germanic *gōdaz Proto-Indo-European *leyg- Proto-Germanic *līkąder. Proto-Germanic *-līkaz Proto-Germanic *gōdalīkaz Proto-West Germanic *gōdalīk Old English gōdlīċ Middle English goodlich English goodly From Middle English goodly, goodlich, gōdlich, from Old English gōdlīċ (“good, goodly”), from Proto-West Germanic *gōdalīk, from Proto-Germanic *gōdalīkaz (“good, goodly”); equivalent to good + -ly. Cognate with Dutch goedelijk, goelijk (“harmless, benign”), German gütlich (“friendly”), Icelandic góðlegur (“benign”).
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "goodly"?
What does "goodly" mean?
How do you pronounce "goodly"?
What is the origin of the word "goodly"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “goodly”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-O-O-D-L-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɡʊdli/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.